Harsimus Cove

Harsimus Cove is a neighborhood within Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey. Its name means "Crow's Marsh" in Lenape, and the Dutch began to erect homesteads in 1634. During the 1830s, Harsimus grew due to the expansion of the shipping industry and the construction of new residences. The development of the railroad industry transformed Harsimus, and, by 1870, much of the estuary flood zone was land-filled for the development of railyards. Many Irish Catholic immigrant railroad workers moved into the neighborhood, followed by influxes of Ellis Island immigrants (including many Ukrainians). To diminish the Democratic power base, Republican power brokers redrew the voting district (the city's second ward) to consist solely of the immigrant "Horseshoe", isolating the Catholic Democratic voters into one district. During the 1910s, the Horseshoe power base produced political boss Frank Hague. The proliferation of container shipping at Port Newark during the 1950s led to the abandonment of the railroad ports along the waterfront by the 1970s, leading to a decline in population and economic activity. Urban renewal projects brought slum clearance of tenements along Grove Street as well as the removal of the PRR elevated railway, and the area quickly became home to large Puerto Rican and Filipino immigrant populations (reflected by the names Manila Avenue and Marin Boulevard); a large Italian population still existed along Columbus Drive. From the 1980s to 2000s, Harsimus and the rest of Downtown Jersey City was revitalized, becoming home to several new businesses and middle-class and upper-class residents.